Steve Cuomo
The only time I want to know an athlete’s challenges is when I first meet them, so I can put together a personalized training program. After that, I only want to know how fast they can run. At Rolling Thunder, we focus on each athletes abilities and accomplishments, not on their disability.
When Coach Steve brought his challenged son to run at the Special Olympics in the mid-1990s, he was astounded to find out his son was not allowed to participate. Coach Steve envisioned a running club where challenged individuals, their siblings, and parents could all train together, an inclusion program. From this vision, Rolling Thunder Special Needs Program was born.
As an elite high school runner, Penn Relay Champion, and high school cross-country and track official, Coach Steve had just the right background for pioneering the first ever inclusion based running club in the U.S.A Coach Steve, Rolling Thunders Founder, President, and Head Coach, has brought the from its origin in 1998 to earn the national recognition and respect it holds today. Coach Steve is a USA Track and Field certified running coach. He exhibits enormous passion and dedication and has immense experience for working with developmentally and physically challenged athletes of all ages and ability levels. Coach Steve has trained both able-bodied and wheelchair athletes for all levels of mainstream competition. Coach Steve has coached Rolling Thunder athletes in highly competitive national events, including 2009, 2010 and 2011 USA National Junior Olympics, the 2010 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, and in many USA Championships. Each year, he coaches athletes in dozens of regional place in the top in mainstream national competitions!
Steve Cuomo has served as USA Track and Fields Chair for Athletes for the Disabled since the positions inception in 2009. One of Coach Steves first accomplishments as chair was to include challenged athletes with their peer in qualifying to compete in the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics. Over the past years. Coach Steve has been working tirelessly to create Rolling Thunder Special Needs Program chapters across the country. He envisions all challenged individuals, not just those living on Long Island, having the opportunity to experience the sport of running or wheelchair racing in a mainstream and inclusion based setting. In December 2010, Coach Steve Cuomo was recognized for his unmatched dedication to the sport with the USA Track and Field Presidents Award.
ROLLING THUNDER SPECIAL NEEDS PROGRAM, INC
EIN: 11-3488500